1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wheel suspension for a motor vehicle, having a transverse control arm that can be attached to a vehicle body by way of bearings and a spring-elastic torsion bar assembly, and can be rotated about a longitudinal axis. The torsion bar assembly has a body spring that can be attached to the vehicle body with one end, and a transverse control arm spring that is attached to the transverse control arm with one end. The body spring and the transverse control arm spring are coupled with one another at their free ends. The wheel suspension is particularly provided as a single-wheel suspension, on at least one axle of a passenger car or a utility vehicle.
2. The Prior Art
A wheel suspension having the characteristics described initially is known from the reference DE 38 31 338 A1. Both the body spring and the transverse control arm spring are configured in tubular shape, as torsion bar springs, and are disposed coaxially, whereby the transverse control arm spring surrounds the body spring and whereby the torsion bar springs are rigidly connected at their free ends, by way of a coupling point.
At the opposite ends of the torsion bar springs, the body spring is connected with the vehicle body, and the transverse control arm spring is connected with the transverse control arm. A device that can be hydraulically activated is disposed between the coupling point and the transverse control arm, for adjusting the angle of rotation. This device makes it possible to actively adjust the spring force of the torsion bar assembly as a function of the driving situation. While the weight force that acts on the wheel suspension is essentially absorbed by the torsion bar assembly, the device for adjusting the angle of rotation makes it possible, proceeding from a normal position of the torsion rod assembly in the stressed state, to perform an active adjustment with comparatively small setting moments. In the force-free state of the device for adjusting the angle of rotation, the wheel height of a wheel attached to a vehicle with the wheel suspension is obtained, on the one hand, from the weight force that acts on the wheel suspension, and, on the other hand, from the spring-elastic properties of the torsion rod assembly.